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Japan: Unprecedented spate of executions continues as six more Aum cult members hanged

26 July 2018, 09:48 UTC

Japan’s recent spate of executions will not make the country safer and fails to address why individuals were attracted to a cult which orchestrated a series of horrific crimes, Amnesty International said, following the executions of a further six members of the religious cult Aum Shinrikyo (Aum) on Thursday.

This unprecedented execution spree does not leave Japanese society any safer. The hangings fail to address why people were drawn to a charismatic guru with dangerous ideas,

This July has now seen 13 people executed for their involvement in the deadly 1995 sarin gas attack on the Tokyo subway, which killed 13 people and injured thousands more, as well as other illegal activities. The last time Japan executed more than 10 people in a year was in 2008. It is also extremely rare for Japan to carry out two rounds of executions in the same month.

“This unprecedented execution spree, which has seen 13 people killed in a matter of weeks, does not leave Japanese society any safer. The hangings fail to address why people were drawn to a charismatic guru with dangerous ideas,” said Hiroka Shoji, East Asia Researcher at Amnesty International.

“The taking of a life in retribution is never the answer. It is high time for the Japanese authorities to establish an immediate moratorium on all executions and promote an informed debate on the death penalty as first steps towards its abolition.”

The six people executed in the early hours of Thursday morning were: Satoru Hashimoto, Yasuo Koike (Hayashi), Kenichi Hirose, Kazuaki Okazaki (Miyamae), Toru Toyota, Masato Yokoyama. Four of those hanged had requests for a retrial pending.

Amnesty International opposes the death penalty in all cases without exception regardless of the nature of the crime, the characteristics of the offender or the method used by the state to carry out the execution and has been campaigning for abolition of the death penalty for more than 40 years.

*This article was updated on 26 July to reflect that four of those hanged had requests for a retrial pending.

Find out more about the death penalty in Japan and the executions of Aum cult members